Seattle Times columnist resigns over women’s sports column

Longtime Seattle Times sports columnist Matt Calkins on Thursday said he recently resigned after the paper refused to publish his column arguing against men competing in women’s sports. According to Calkins, his editor said that the article was denied, after several days of consideration, because Calkins didn’t give advance notice that he planned to write it. Calkins on the other hand said the decision was part of a pattern. The Times repeatedly rejected columns challenging mainstream narratives, he said.

The paper did not immediately respond to WORLD’s request for a comment on the circumstances of the article’s rejection and Calkins’ resignation.

Calkins said he left his job after 11 years because he believed a columnist should be allowed to generate conversation on hot-button issues. He noted that he and several girls he interviewed for the column did not oppose transgender ideology. However, they believed that it was common sense to separate sports teams based on sex due to the biological differences between men and women, he said. The girls faced vitriol and threats for their beliefs, he said. In the column, which he published on his personal Substack page, Calkins encouraged people to think carefully before labeling someone else a bigot.

Frances Staudt, 17, was one of the girls interviewed for Calkins’ rejected column. She said Thursday that she was surprised the Times didn’t want to share her story of facing hatred after refusing to play against a male basketball player. She urged Washington residents to vote in November for a state measure preventing boys from playing in girls’ sports.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report on the WNBA’s apology to fans who were asked to cover up shirts with the logo of a company promoting sex-separated sports.